Combat Primer
Basic info for adjudicating combat is listed below. Actions A character is limited to one standard action (attacking, dodging, power use, etc.) and one move action per turn. Attacking What dice pool the player uses depends on the nature of the attack. Standard difficulty is 6 unless stated otherwise. *Firearms, roll Dexterity + Firearms. *Bows or crossbows, roll Dexterity + Archery; if no Archery, roll Dexterity + Athletics at +1 difficulty. *Thrown, roll Dexterity + Athletics. *Hand-held weapons, roll Dexterity + Melee. *Hand-to-hand attacks, roll Dexterity + Brawl or Martial Arts. Note that Martial Arts can not be used in beast-forms. *Kailindo works as Martial Arts with the exception that it can be used in beast-forms, and draws from its own maneuvers listing. The numbers below are all pre-calculated and a very brief simplification. Generally, if a combat maneuver lists its difficulty at 7, this is likely because the maneuver adds a +1 difficulty to a normal attack roll, so please keep this in mind. Standard Combat Maneuvers The table below outlines the general difficulties for attacks from Normal Brawl, Shifters (with Brawl), Vampires (with Brawl), Soft Martial Arts, Hard Martial Arts, and Kailindo. For natural weapons (bite/teeth, claws), use the racial difficulties. (*) - If a Kailindo maneuver is named, all difficulties listed here are always overridden by the difficulties associated with the stated maneuver. The same applies to Martial Arts in general. (*) - Glabro and related forms may make bite attacks at difficulty 8, with Strength - 1 damage. (*) - Claw damage is only aggravated in Crinos/Hispo forms and related. *NOTE: Weapon Length: A dagger does not have the reach of a sword. In cases where an attacker has less reach than the defender, the attacker loses 1 die to her attack roll. Offsite Charts *Melee Weapons Chart *Ranged Weapons Chart *Thrown Weapons Chart Other Complications The following details basic rules for most combat options. Close Body Tackle This dangerous maneuver may potentially damage the attacker more than his opponent. The attacker runs at full speed toward his opponent, hopefully building enough momentum to knock said opponent to the ground. Both combatants must succeed in Dexterity + Athletics rolls (difficulty 6 for the attacker, 6 + attacker's successes for the target) or be knocked to the ground. If the attack roll botches, one of two things happens. The attacker either trips and falls, or he runs headlong into his target and bounces off, leaving his target unharmed but receiving his target's Stamina in damage dice. All damage caused by this attack is considered bashing. If the attack is used by a Garou in Crinos or Hispo against an unprotected human being, the damage might be considered lethal instead (Storyteller's discretion). *Roll: Dexterity + Brawl *Difficulty: 7 *Damage: Strength *Actions: 1 Disarm Similar to a parry, the character attempts to use a weapon to remove his opponent's weapon. The attacker rolls to attack as usual, but with a +1 difficulty penalty. If the attacker's successes equal or exceed his opponent's Strength score, his opponent drops his weapon. If the attacker does not score enough successes, he still inflicts damage as usual. A botch on this roll usually means that the attacker has dropped his weapon. It is possible, though much more difficult, to perform this maneuver without a weapon. In that case, the roll is Dexterity + Brawl, the difficulty is 8, and the character must remove a die from her attack pool as though moving within range of an opponent with a longer weapon. *Usable By: Humanoid forms. *Roll: Dexterity + Melee *Difficulty: +1 *Damage: Special *Actions: 1 Flank/Rear Attack Attacking an opponent's flank reduces the difficulty by one. Attacking from the rear reduces the attacker's difficulty by two. Flurry Any character may attempt multiple hits with a single action. The first hit always has a penalty equal to the total number of hits, and then the penalty increases by one for each successive hit. Thus, a 3-hit flurry would take a -3/-4/-5 penalty to each attack roll, respectively. Grapple/Clinch Grappling is the act of seizing and holding an opponent with the intent to immobilize or harm him. A grappling attack intended to damage an opponent is called a clinch; an attack meant to immobilize is called a hold. Either attack begins with the attacker succeeding in a Strength + Brawl or Martial Arts roll. Success indicates that the attacker has grappled his opponent. If the attack is a clinch, the attacker may inflict damage equal to his Strength beginning the turn after he begins the grapple. If the attack is a hold, the target is held until his next action. When a character is on the receiving end of a grapple, she has two options. The first is to escape, which requires a resisted Strength + Brawl roll. At the Storyteller's option, defenders may roll Dexterity instead of Strength to escape a clinch or hold. If the attacker wins, the grapple continues. If the defender wins, she pulls free. The other option is to reverse the hold. Doing so requires the same roll as escaping, but to reverse the hold successfully, the defender must beat her attacker by at least two successes. *Usable By: Humanoid forms. *Roll: Strength + Brawl or Martial Arts *Difficulty: 6 *Damage: Strength or none *Actions: 1 Sweep A character uses her legs or a weapon to sweep an opponent's legs out from under her. Only certain weapons can be used this way, of course. Because their arms are disproportionately long for example, werewolves in Crinos form may sweep a smaller opponent using their arms instead of their legs. Likewise, a Garou can try to trip up a foe while in Hispo or Lupus form, although doing so raises the difficulty by one. A sweep does no damage, but it does leave an opponent prone if successful. Usable By: All forms Roll: Dexterity + Brawl or Martial Arts Difficulty: 8/9 (for beast forms) Damage: None Actions: 1 Two Weapons Ranged Aim Automatic Fire Bows Called Shots Cover Extended Range Moving Multiple Shots Reloading Strafing Three-Round Burst Two Weapons Martial Arts See: Martial Arts. Kailindo See: Kailindo. Other Maneuvers The following details basic rules for other available combat maneuvers. Evasive Action Hamstring Jaw Lock Leaping Rake Taunt Pack Tactics Fur Gnarl Harrying Savage Wishbone Defending A character can choose to take one of three defensive actions in a turn instead of attacking. At GM discretion, she may also choose to abort a previously declared action or give up her next turn (or spend Rage) in order to do so. These actions are dodging, blocking and parrying. Dodging Dodging is simply the act of getting out of the way before an attack lands, and the roll is Dexterity + Dodge. The difficulty depends on how much cover is available and how much space the character has to cross to get to it, as well as the nature of the attack being dodged. A Garou in Lupus form dodging a kick needs only to jump back a few feet, so the difficulty is only 5. However, a Garou in Crinos form trying to dodge a shotgun blast from 15 feet away with no cover should probably just grit her teeth and get ready to get shot — her difficulty should be 9 or even 10. Successes on the dodge roll subtract successes from the attacker's roll to hit the character. So, in order to avoid being hit entirely, the dodging character needs more successes than the attacking character. Blocking Blocking involves using one's own body to stop an incoming attack. A character cannot block a firearms attack (well, he can, but it isn't very smart), but a character may attempt to block any hand-to-hand or melee attack. The roll is Dexterity + Brawl or Martial Arts and the difficulty is determined by the nature of the attack being blocked. (A fist is easier to block than a sword). Otherwise, the system is identical to dodging. Parrying Parrying is the use of a weapon to block an incoming attack. The system is the same as blocking, except that the roll is Dexterity + Melee. Armor Healing Mortals Shifters Vampires Shifting Rage Frenzies Rage Healing Willpower Gnosis Gauntlet Category:Reference